WBB: NESCAC

[gordonmann]

Hot off the press, so to speak...

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/women/2016-17/preseason

Tufts is the Presesason No. 1 followed by Amherst. Bowdoin is also in the Top 25.

[ronk]

Hot off the press, so to speak...

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/women/2016-17/preseason

Tufts is the Presesason No. 1 followed by Amherst. Bowdoin is also in the Top 25.

I'd rank Scranton #2 and it's hard to believe that Thomas More would have the most 1st place votes and not be ranked higher than 4th. Scranton has a good chance to play #7 Rochester in their tipoff tourney.

[gordonmann]

Yeah. The opinions were split on Thomas More. On the one hand, they are the defending national champions and haven't lost in years. On the other hand, they lost arguably the greatest player of all time in Division III women's hoops and several other seniors.

Otherwise there was generally consensus on the rest of the Top 5 -- Tufts, Amherst, Texas-Tyler (returns everyone) and Scranton in some order.

[Canvas Hightops]

Saw the Middlebury womens' first practice.  Some notable additions.  Taller, more athletic, better shooting team than last season.  Should translate to a few more wins.  One hopes.

[Vandy74]

Saw the Middlebury womens' first practice.  Some notable additions.  Taller, more athletic, better shooting team than last season.  Should translate to a few more wins.  One hopes.

I agree this season's team should win more.  Last year's squad was very young with only 6-7 players in the rotation against the stronger opponents because of injuries to the only two key returning veterans.  They were very competitive in almost every game until they tired toward the end of the season.  I haven't seen them practice yet but I've heard good things about the FY players.  I'm a big fan of the men's team and wish the NESCAC scheduling gods, or is it clods, would get their heads out of their collective a**es and return to the old format where both teams played on the same night on the same court.  I think I was able to watch the women play only 5-6 times last season.  That team was fun to watch and this one will be better.  These young athletes deserve more fan support.

[ronk]

Saw the Middlebury womens' first practice.  Some notable additions.  Taller, more athletic, better shooting team than last season.  Should translate to a few more wins.  One hopes.

I agree this season's team should win more.  Last year's squad was very young with only 6-7 players in the rotation against the stronger opponents because of injuries to the only two key returning veterans.  They were very competitive in almost every game until they tired toward the end of the season.  I haven't seen them practice yet but I've heard good things about the FY players.  I'm a big fan of the men's team and wish the NESCAC scheduling gods, or is it clods, would get their heads out of their collective a**es and return to the old format where both teams played on the same night on the same court.  I think I was able to watch the women play only 5-6 times last season.  That team was fun to watch and this one will be better.  These young athletes deserve more fan support.

Vanessa young(6-4) & Becky knox(5-11) are good players that I saw in aau.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Believe it not, the 2016-17 basketball season is just days away. But the season can't start without Hoopsville hitting the air!

Tune in tonight starting at 7pm as Dave talks to the two preseason numbers one teams, finds out how the offseason went for the two defending national championships, and touches bases with the men's and women's basketball committee chairs.

Guests include:
- Kevin Vande Streek, men's basketball committee chair and head coach for Calvin
- Bobbi Morgan, women's basketball committee chair and head coach for Haverford
- John Tauer, head coach for No. 10 St. Thomas men
- Dave Hixon, head coach for No. 1 Amherst men
- Jeff Hans, head coach for No. 4 Thomas More women
- Carla Berube, head coach for No. 1 Tufts women

You can watch the show here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2016-17/nov13

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

[jumpshot]

Eph women fortunate to win one of two games this weekend after committing 56 turnovers and 35 fouls ....painful to watch.

[Vandy74]

Saw the Middlebury womens' first practice.  Some notable additions.  Taller, more athletic, better shooting team than last season.  Should translate to a few more wins.  One hopes.

I agree this season's team should win more.  Last year's squad was very young with only 6-7 players in the rotation against the stronger opponents because of injuries to the only two key returning veterans.  They were very competitive in almost every game until they tired toward the end of the season.  I haven't seen them practice yet but I've heard good things about the FY players.  I'm a big fan of the men's team and wish the NESCAC scheduling gods, or is it clods, would get their heads out of their collective a**es and return to the old format where both teams played on the same night on the same court.  I think I was able to watch the women play only 5-6 times last season.  That team was fun to watch and this one will be better.  These young athletes deserve more fan support.

Vanessa young(6-4) & Becky knox(5-11) are good players that I saw in aau.

A promising start to the season for the Panthers in winning the Rose City Tip-Off Classic at Drew this past weekend.  They won the opener over Wittenberg 62-53 and cruised to an easy 74-39 win against Shenandoah in the championship game.  I'm not familiar enough with the caliber of this out-of-region competition to make any bold predictions but this team is far more talented than any that Middlebury fans have seen in quite some time.  It's a young team with only 3 juniors and no seniors on the roster.  They have size with 4 six-footers and one more at 5'11".  They have depth finally after last season when at times HC KJ Krasco had as few as 6 players capable of competing against the stronger opponents on the schedule.  10 players participated in both games while Sabrina Weeks and Vanessa Young seem to be unavailable, I assume due to injuries.  Weeks has been a key performer in each of the last two seasons and didn't suit up for the tournament.   Since a sister-in-law retired from the ranks of MC coaching I've lost my source of insider info on such matters.   I share amh63's frustration with the asinine men/women's scheduling format.  For Middlebury basketball fans who love the game this team will be as entertaining to watch as the men's court quintet.  Attention to the NESCAC powers-that-be: Start using that collective space between your ears as something more than just a hat rack. 

[amh63]

Amherst had a bit of a hurdle with Babson on Sunday as they fell behind at the half by 7 points. Almost shut Babson down in the third quarter to take a lead. Biult a solid lead in the 4th for the win.  Defense seemed to be the difference as the outside shots would not fall for Amherst  PG Renner took the offense over in the second half with her outside 3- point shots...an unusual role for her.
It is to be noted that two 6 footers are presently injured...Jr Nagle from Vt. And FY lady from Syracuse.  Expect them to join the team soon.  One Soph guard did join the team for the second game on Sunday.  She is also a soccer player of note and the Amherst soccer team lost to the No 1 team on Sat. in the 3 round of the NCAA Tourney.
It was only the second game of the season for both schools.  Seems Coach G has added two new Asst. Coaches.  One is an Amherst native that played for UMass- Amherst.  The most recent  assistant is also a local resident.....the former LT from the three time CAC football title team, all 6'5",289 lbs.  He is noticed sitting on the bench.

[ronk]

Amherst had a bit of a hurdle with Babson on Sunday as they fell behind at the half by 7 points. Almost shut Babson down in the third quarter to take a lead. Biult a solid lead in the 4th for the win.  Defense seemed to be the difference as the outside shots would not fall for Amherst  PG Renner took the offense over in the second half with her outside 3- point shots...an unusual role for her.
It is to be noted that two 6 footers are presently injured...Jr Nagle from Vt. And FY lady from Syracuse.  Expect them to join the team soon.  One Soph guard did join the team for the second game on Sunday.  She is also a soccer player of note and the Amherst soccer team lost to the No 1 team on Sat. in the 3 round of the NCAA Tourney.
It was only the second game of the season for both schools.  Seems Coach G has added two new Asst. Coaches.  One is an Amherst native that played for UMass- Amherst.  The most recent  assistant is also a local resident.....the former LT from the three time CAC football title team, all 6'5",289 lbs.  He is noticed sitting on the bench.

  I tried to interest all 4 frosh in Scranton; I see them all making contributions this year; One(Eck) is already starting and another(Hannah Fox) is very good.

[amh63]

Ronk...thanks for the info.  You are indeed an astute judge of talent . There is another "new" player on the team from Ct.....Emma McCarthy, a soph that is getting playing time.  She was Ist team all- state in HS, near Milford.  Seems that she may have  transferred from Fairfield Un..  Do you know anything wrt her..I.e. AUU team?
Anyway, Amherst plays tonight in Middletown against Wesleyan...in the game that does not count in the conference.  Should be interesting how the players respond on their first road trip!

[ronk]

Ronk...thanks for the info.  You are indeed an astute judge of talent . There is another "new" player on the team from Ct.....Emma McCarthy, a soph that is getting playing time.  She was Ist team all- state in HS, near Milford.  Seems that she may have  transferred from Fairfield Un..  Do you know anything wrt her..I.e. AUU team?
Anyway, Amherst plays tonight in Middletown against Wesleyan...in the game that does not count in the conference.  Should be interesting how the players respond on their first road trip!

Don't know of Emma McCarthy, but looked her up on Fairfield's stats; she got in 8 games @ 2 min/g. Fairfield had another frosh that I really loved as a player and she only got 6.5 min/g last year so I wouldn't hold Emma's lack of playing time against her.
  Wesleyan has a soph(Tara Berger 6-1) that I thought was going to be a bigger factor last year.

[amh63]

Amherst wins over Wes in Middletown in basically a blowout.  It was Amherst by 25  at the half with Amherst  shooting 60 percentage from the field and Wes shooting about 15 percentage.  2nd half was basically a standof. Every player on the Amherst got in the game that was not injured.  It was basically the reserves playing the Cardinals in the last two quarters.
Looking over the men and women BB games, all the Nescac teams won over their opponents tonight.

[Vandy74]

Things started very slowly for both teams in Pepin Gym tonight as Middlebury and Johnson State played a ragged 1st half with the Panthers taking an 18-12 lead into the locker room.  Obviously suffering from some first home game jitters the young Middlebury squad shot just 22% from the field and managed only 3-8 from the stripe.  The second half was completely different as the Panthers put up 27 3rd quarter points including a 13-0 opening run en route to a solid 62-34 victory.  Catherine Harrison pulled down 11 rebounds while Maya Davis and Alex Huffman each collected 10  as Middlebury totally dominated the boards 54-29.  Colleen Caveney lead all scorers with 15 points and Sarah Kaufman chipped in 9.  Dominique Carter-Stanley led Johnson State with 11 points while Kasey DeGreenia led the in-state rivals with 11 boards.